There is no combat because it is so dramatic, and that drama has little room full[sic] combat.

For a game that is getting close to launch, such comments about the beginning of the game may be quite worrying to hear. But video games do tend to come together very late in their development schedule. We can view this as a positive, though. If the game is playable in March, the dev team has plenty of time to work out the kinks.

It’s refreshing to hear information such as this about a game in development. Usually we only see the PR releases, the odd developer interview, and gameplay videos. Molyneux is offering a view of the game as it comes together and the problems being faced.

Games don’t just happen. They are an idea that is slowly realized over a 12-36 month period, and they evolve as much as get developed. It is possible to reach the last few months of a development cycle and still have no clear idea of how it will play out. Is the story interesting? Does the gameplay progress well from start to finish? Will the first hour hook the player?

It looks as though Fable III has reached the stage where it is all starting to come together, and having Molyneux play and ask these questions will only help the final product.

To offer an answer to his question: Not having combat in the first 30 minutes is fine as long as the player doesn’t notice it isn’t there. If they are immersed in the game it won’t matter that it takes that long before you start fighting.